


Hide Salvation

by Unholy_Author



Series: Zine Works [6]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Established Relationship, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Soulmates, depictions of blood and illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24639904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unholy_Author/pseuds/Unholy_Author
Summary: Jesse and Hanzo were never supposed to meet. They were never supposed to fall in love. They were most certainly not supposed to be soulmates.To keep each other safe and have even the slightest chance of happiness, the two of them are going to have to do something drastic. And really stupid.
Relationships: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Series: Zine Works [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1194684
Comments: 1
Kudos: 83





	Hide Salvation

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Resonance McHanzo soulmate zine

They were celebrating, supposedly. There was a woman on a small, round stage at the head of the dancefloor with an orchestra behind her. She sang something about a lover as the guests swirled around in their ludicrously expensive outfits pretending to like one another. Jesse had never understood that, before he got this position. He never knew how someone could laugh over champagne with a person and then turn around and plot their deaths. Now, he kind of got it. 

The glittering light of the chandelier shone down on the high society beneath it, casting them all in the fractal gleams of crystal that, when it fell just right, made them look broken. Its light did not fall on the outer edges of the ballroom. There, the servants and guards that lined the walls in patient expectation of the moment they were needed were kept from the shadows only by the tall candelabras that stood between them. Silent as the staff were, and just as easily ignored.

It was, perhaps, easy to ignore the staff partially because of their incredible discipline and uniformity. They were all trained rigorously, no matter their position, and were all sworn to utter loyalty to the crown. Among the servers, the only variation was whether they wore the uniform with black trousers or a black skirt. For the guards, the variation was in the medals hung on their chests and the ranks displayed on their shoulders. Of course, to most of the people there at the moment, the differences meant nothing. Jesse, however, could glance across the room and read the professional story of every single guard without a thought. It was extremely convenient, and extremely telling. Jesse’s eye caught on the guard in the next position down when they both did a sweep of the room at the same time and the guard gave a small tip of the head to him when they made eye contact. Jesse returned it, but was careful not to meet her eyes again. Her shoulders bore inverted arrows of gold. The mark of someone trusted to train the new guards. Someone incredibly loyal to the king. Like Jesse was meant to be.

From Jesse’s position, he could see the entirety of the high table and several of the smaller tables in front of it, as well as part of the dancefloor. If he turned his head, he could see more. But there was only one thing that he was looking for, and he knew exactly where it would be coming from. He didn’t need to look for anything else. Even if it was, technically, his job to watch everything. After tonight it wouldn’t be his problem anymore, so he figured if his behavior was noted they could just fire him. His lips quirked up into a small, self-satisfied smirk. Good luck with that. 

Almost as though summoned by his treasonous thoughts, one of the discrete curtains behind the high table parted and all of the guests in the room came to a near instant halt, no matter what they were doing, to watch the newest entrance. The most important entrance. 

Almost on cue, Jesse felt his chest tighten with the need to cough. He stifled it, though he had to blink back a few reflexive tears at the pain in his chest. He may have been invisible to most of the people there, but he was pretty sure hacking up flowers would draw attention to anyone. It wasn’t as though anyone would know who the flowers were for, of course, but it was better to be safe than sorry. At least for tonight. But tomorrow...tomorrow he wouldn’t have to worry about the flowers at all if everything went right.

Oblivious to Jesse’s inner turmoil, the royal family stepped out into view. There was immediate chatter throughout the room as the king and queen gave their polite, false smiles and waved to those gathered. They wore clothes more elaborate and expensive than most people could imagine. The queen was draped in a champagne colored dress that clung to her figure and shimmered underneath the light. According to a rumor Jesse had heard, it had been made with over five thousand individual diamonds. Looking at it now, he’d believe it. Her husband was no better, wearing a silk suit with gold cuffs and lapel pins. But the one who held Jesse’s attention was the prince behind them, not even pretending to want to be there. He was absolutely gorgeous. He wore a suit very much like his father, but where his father’s was all reds and blacks, his own was a deep blue with gold accents. His long, inky black hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that most certainly wouldn’t have looked so effortlessly elegant on anyone but him. Hanzo tipped his head to the room, acknowledging the guests, before his eyes swept across them. It might have looked like he was simply scanning the crowd if his dark eyes didn’t catch on Jesse’s for a brief moment. 

The split second where their eyes met was more than enough for Jesse to see the longing and pain he felt. It was gone as soon as Hanzo looked away, face settled back into the icy indifference he wore for all others. All but Jesse. Jesse’s chest tightened when Hanzo looked away from him, their connection stinging. He held a fist to his mouth, clearing his throat in the hopes that it would stall the inevitable fit of flowers. They’d been pushing it, he knew. Their connection seemed almost to sense what they were doing, purposefully staying away from one another, and was punishing them by getting more and more sensitive to separation. 

Hopefully, this would be the last night they had to deal with it. 

Once the royal family was there, the celebrations really took off. The floor was constantly filled with the sound of fabric as skirts brushed each other, guests constantly swirled against and between one another. Drinks flowed freely from the trays of generous servers that easily flitted between guests who didn’t seem to see them if they weren’t actively looking for a glass. 

Slowly, as the festivities went on, they got less inhibited. Less tightly wound. They slowly spread through the ballroom, taking up space that they’d previously left empty or left to the servants. Now, Jesse could barely see the woman in the next post because of the number of people between them. He glanced toward her, to make absolutely sure they couldn’t directly see one another, and blinked when he saw a woman rubbing at her chest, a familiar grimace on her face. Almost as though just seeing someone else going through the same thing reminded Jesse’s body that he should be in pain, his chest tightened alarmingly. He cleared his throat several times, trying so damn hard not to cough. He was fighting a losing battle. Fuck. He hadn’t seen Hanzo since his grand entrance, he had absolutely no idea where he was, and even if he did, right now was far too risky. Their plan wasn’t ready. And Jesse was about to ruin it all in the very last moment.

Jesse gently maneuvered his way past the guests plastered to the wall next to him and caught the next guard’s eye.

“I’m rotatin’ out to the hall. Way things are going right now, I want to be sure we don’t have anyone wandering where they don’t need to be,” he said. He was careful to keep his tone even, almost bored. He was proud that his throat didn’t clog his words, but he’d also had far more practice than most people at suppressing his flowers. His disease. The thing that was slowly killing both him and his soulmate. 

The other guard’s eyes flicked across the room, considering. 

“Go,” she said shortly. He nodded and immediately started making his way through the room. He caught the eyes of several servers and guards as he went, exchanging silent greetings with the ones he knew. He felt, for the briefest moment, guilty. Then his throat clenched, bile rose, and he decided that he didn’t feel guilty enough to stop.

Jesse slipped out the open double doors of the ballroom and immediately ducked around a corner into an empty room. He bent over, careful to keep his mouth over the trashcan in the room and away from his uniform, and coughed hard to clear his throat and lungs as quickly as possible. When he was done, he was breathing heavily and his throat was scratched with the obstructions that had been forced through it. The bottom of the trashcan was filled with petals and phlegm. Some merely buds, some torn, some whole, and some connected to others in small groups as the Hanahaki in his lungs tried to form whole plants. All of them were blue irises. Jesse used to think the flowers were so beautiful, but now he only associated them with pain. 

The door next to Jesse slammed open and then shut in the same moment and he straightened, whirling as his heart rate picked up with panic. He’d been caught. But the one who grabbed the trashcan and bent over it, wracked with their own coughing fit, was the crown prince, heir apparent to the throne. Hanzo.

“Ah, fuck. Bad for you, too, huh?” Jesse sighed, gently rubbing Hanzo’s back between his shoulder blades as he coughed. Hanzo shot him a withering look and Jesse could practically hear the snarky   
. But before Hanzo could say anything he hunched back over and another wave made his spine shudder with the force of it. Jesse sighed again and continued to rub his back, knowing there was nothing to do that would help him immediately. It lasted perhaps a minute before Hanzo dropped the can and leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. Jesse kicked the can back into its place but then something caught his eye and he looked inside. 

On top of his own petals, there was a layer of white. Spider mums and amaryllises mixed together as they always were. The amaryllis petals were always striped. White with streaks of a sweet salmon color, the only color on any of Hanzo’s flowers. Usually. Now, the white was splattered with a bright red that made Jesse’s eyes widen with fear. He turned to Hanzo quickly, grabbing his upper arms and searching his face for any sign of something imminently wrong.

“Han, honeybee, how long have you been coughing blood?” he demanded. Hanzo huffed, rubbing absently at his own chest.

“A few days. It has not been often,” he said. “Although this might have been that disgustingly dry goose that was served for dinner.” Jesse didn’t laugh at the half-hearted joke, instead pulling Hanzo to his chest. He buried his face in Hanzo’s hair and took a deep, shuddering breath.

“It’s okay,” he said, trying not to lose his cool despite Hanzo’s attempt at dismissing the issue. Hanzo’s Hanahaki had always been worse, for reasons neither of them knew. If they went to a doctor they might have found an answer, but they would also have exposed themselves. They’d both agreed it was safer this way. Even if it hurt.

“Is everything ready?” Hanzo asked, always all business, even as he finally allowed himself to hug Jesse back. His arms wound around Jesse’s waist and his body slowly lost all of its tension as he leaned into him. Jesse glanced to the clock hung on the far wall and nodded.

“I haven’t heard of anything going wrong. We should be leaving in five minutes. Can you stay here that long without anyone noticing?” Jesse asked. Hanzo snorted softly against him. 

“Without notice? No. But no one will search for me. You will be missed before I, if anyone notices that your post is empty.” Jesse waved a hand absently, though it was behind Hanzo’s back.

“They’ll just think I was helping some noble. They think we’re their personal tour guides, you know. Some even mistake me for a criminal and try to tell me to leave,” Jesse said, shooting a sly look down at Hanzo. Hanzo pinched his side and Jesse jumped with a laugh, eyes crinkling.

“You looked more the part of a ruffian than a trained guard. You should have listened to me no matter what I said, I outrank you a thousand times over. You should have nodded your head and walked out.”

“Ah, but then you never would have realized I was yours,” Jesse said softly. Hanzo hummed at that. After all, he couldn’t argue. If it weren’t for the fact that both of them found their Hanahaki easing after contact, no matter how brief, the disease could have already….

“Are you bleeding?” Hanzo asked softly. His mind had apparently gone along the same lines that Jesse’s had. 

“Not as much as you,” Jesse murmured. “Only a bit this morning. We were stupid last time, we didn’t stay with each other long enough. I’m sorry, I should have noticed how bad it was for you.” Hanzo smirked up at him, though his eyes just looked exhausted.

“If you had noticed, someone else would have, as well. This is the game we must play, Jesse. You know this.” Jesse grinned at that, a slow thing that spread across his face with far too much satisfaction.

“Not for long.” He held Hanzo more firmly, slowly walking backwards and taking Hanzo with him. His thighs bumped against the single table in the room, what Jesse now realized was a small washroom for the servants’ clothes if there was an accident during the day, and Jesse sat down on it. He pulled Hanzo between his legs and encouraged him to lean on him until most of the weight was on Jesse and not his feet. “We’ve got five minutes,” Jesse told him, his flesh hand coming up to comb through Hanzo’s hair, taking out the ribbon that held the ponytail in a smooth motion. “Just you and me. Tell me about your day?” Hanzo thought for a moment, choosing what to say, deciding what Jesse would be most interested in. And, perhaps, simply enjoying his touch. They had very few stolen moments in the two years they’d known what they were to each other. Just enough to keep them going. Just enough to maintain their connection. This indulgence felt so good, even to someone who was meant to be above such petty things as touch. 

“I was in meetings all morning. About what we’d need to do about the pirates along the southern coast.” Jesse snorted at that, intensely amused. 

“Oh yeah? What’d you say to that?” Hanzo shrugged in his arms.

“That they were a scourge that needed to be eradicated and that the most prudent course of action would be to wipe as many out in one movement as we possibly could.” Jesse raised an eyebrow at that.

“You sure that was a smart thing to say?”

“It will take some time for them to organize the effort. A few months, at the least. Just enough time for a ship taking a trip to the Eastern Isles to come back and immediately get burned. No burned ship can spread tales of passengers, after all.” Jesse’s eyes widened and then he laughed, stifling the sound with a hand. They weren’t supposed to be there, and they most certainly weren’t supposed to be together. It would be the cruelest irony for them to be caught in the absolute last moment because of their happiness. 

“Damn, honeybee. You’re one smart cookie, you know that?” Jesse asked, nuzzling against his head. He could feel his chest loosening, the urge to cough finally starting to subside. It used to be instant, the relief. They used to brush their hands together and be fine for days. But their bodies were tired of the small glances and momentary relief. It took minutes now for their touch to even start soothing one another, let alone start pushing against the disease. 

“I should hope so. I was raised for strategy, after all.”

“And we’re gonna need all of that beautiful brain of yours to get away with this. If we get caught, I’m going to get executed.” Hanzo sighed. He slid a hand underneath Jesse’s uniform jacket and gave an unhappy noise when he found that Jesse was wearing an undershirt, preventing skin-to-skin contact. 

“I will not allow it. I will burn this entire kingdom down before I let them touch you,” Hanzo told Jesse. His voice was dark, heavy with promise. With knowledge. He was being completely serious, and they both knew that it wasn’t an exaggeration to think such a thing might be necessary. If Hanzo were caught with Jesse after tonight, it would be assumed that Jesse kidnapped him, no matter what Hanzo said. Hanzo may have the worst of the disease, but their plan put Jesse at the most risk. There was no way to win. 

“It’s okay, you won’t need to,” Jesse said, continuing to play with Hanzo’s hair.

“Hopefully,” Hanzo murmured. He glanced at the clock. “It is time. Are you ready?”

“Babydoll, I was ready for you the moment I was born. Right now? I can’t wait to get out of here,” Jesse said with a crooked grin. Hanzo laughed, rolling his eyes. They stood and Jesse finally let go of him, wrapping Hanzo’s ribbon around his wrist as he peeked into the hall. “Clear,” he murmured. His face was smooth now. Focused. He needed to play his part perfectly or he would ruin this chance of happiness for both of them. His own, perhaps, he would play with a little more loosely. But Hanzo’s….

Jesse moved down the hall silently. He was always ahead of Hanzo by more than ten feet, always looking ahead to make sure they would not be intercepted. The entire time they made their way through the castle, the sound of the ball fading behind them as they descended into the servants’ levels, they were both tense. What if something had gone wrong? What if one of the people they were reluctantly relying upon had been caught, or captured, or turned them in? What if they were early and risking exposure by being out in the open too soon?

But when they reached the delivery entrance they both gave a relieved breath. There was a bag, shoved behind a stack of crates. Hanzo and Jesse stripped out of their clothes quickly. They changed into the rougher, more inconspicuous clothing in the bag and shoved their own clothes into it. It would need to be burned, eventually. But for now they just needed to get away from the shadows of the castle walls. 

Jesse slid his hand into Hanzo’s, slinging the bag over his other shoulder. This would be the trickiest part. Hanzo started mussing his own hair as they walked, letting it hang over his face. He bowed his head in an incredible show of feigned shyness and walked a half-step closer to Jesse, clinging to his arm. Jesse smirked.

“Could get used to this,” he told Hanzo under his breath. Hanzo, for his part, did not give any outward indication that he’d heard anything at all. Though he did pinch Jesse again. 

The two of them strolled right out the delivery entrance and to the gate across the rear courtyard. There were usually several guards there, but the entire grounds were quiet. All of the staff was currently working at the ball, ensuring everything went smoothly, and all of the non-essential guards had been pulled for the same reason. Jesse squinted as they walked over to the gate, trying to get a look at the one person who still stood there.

“Do you recognize them?” Hanzo asked in a whisper, just barely loud enough for Jesse to hear.

“No,” Jesse said with some relief. It would be harder to explain this if he knew them. “Hey there! You ain’t in there with everyone else?” Jesse called with an overly-thick accent, making his face split into a wide, friendly smile as they approached. The guard had been leaning against the gate but quickly straightened when Jesse called out. They’d been half-asleep. If Jesse hadn’t been in the process of committing treason and abandoning his own post, he may have scolded them for it.

“What? No, they need someone out here. Where are you two going?” they asked as Jesse and Hanzo stopped in front of him.

“We’re new, just started last week. Just finished cleaning, so we’re heading home. No need for cleaners when the party’s gonna keep going until we come back tomorrow, anyway, you know?” Jesse asked with an easy laugh, tugging Hanzo tighter against him. The guard eyed them both, gaze settling on Hanzo.

“She talk?”

“Nope!” Jesse said happily, rolling with the assumption that Hanzo was a woman. It was genuinely a stroke of luck, would help keep him from being recognized. “Mute as a flower!” The guard hummed at that, looking at Hanzo for another moment before pushing the gate open.

“Go ahead. You’re going to need to be here early tomorrow to clean the ballroom.”

“Yessir, yessir we are,” Jesse agreed, nodding along as he pulled Hanzo through the gate. “Have a good night, now, you hear?”

“Yeah, I hear you,” the guard said with a small chuckle. Jesse and Hanzo kept walking, casual as can be, as they heard the gate close behind them. They didn’t dare look back. They didn’t even look at each other until they were far down the road, out of sight of the guard, out of sight of the castle. 

Jesse and Hanzo turned to each other at the same time and a huge, ridiculous grin spread across Jesse’s face.

“I love you so fucking much,” he said. Hanzo laughed at that, not even bothering to reply as he grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down for a kiss. 

They were free.

**Author's Note:**

> Want more of my work? Check me out [on Twitter! ](https://twitter.com/UnholyAuthor)


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